Fox & Obel plans to liquidate assets

The store, which filed for Chapter 11 protection last week, “intends to liquidate its remaining assets while preserving the maximum possible value for the benefit of the bankruptcy estate,” according to a court filing.

Fox & Obel is seeking permission to sell its perishable food immediately before it spoils; it then plans to sell its furniture and equipment and auction “intangible and brand-related assets” including its customer list and its bread starter, "the secret to its award-winning bread," according to the filing.

In order to “keep the brand active and maintain the value of these brand-related assets,” the company will continue its catering operation “with a skeleton crew,” the filing says, with a third party performing the actual catering.

The store's catering business dropped 60 percent during the recession, and its overall business fell 20 percent, according to the court filings. Fox & Obel's primary lender, Oak Brook-based Leaders Bank, cut off financing, and "because of the general state of the banking market after the Great Recession, (Fox & Obel) was unable to find a new banking partner and its operations suffered," the court documents say.

A hearing on selling the food is slated for this morning. The documents were filed

by the law office of William J. Factor on behalf of Vulpes LLC, the investment firm led by Bill Bolton that bought Fox & Obel in 2008.